talks@stellenboschuni

Statistics South Africa’s latest labour force survey showed that the official unemployment rate rose to a record-high of 32.6% in the first quarter of 2021. That’s about 2.5 percentage points higher than during the first quarter of 2020. In this podcast, Lisette IJssel de Schepper from the Bureau for Economic Research unpacks the data and also talks about how unemployment could be reduced.

Stellenbosch University offers various programmes in the discipline of Physical Geography which leads to a range of career opportunities. In this podcast we talk to Dr Suzanne Grenfell for more information on this field.

What to study is a podcast for prospective SU students about the study opportunities

Chantal Vigus, the online marketing specialist from the Institute for Futures Research interviews Heilet Bertrand, the marketing manager for the IFR to discuss more about Futures thinking methods and the workshops.

www.ifr.sun.ac.za

[email protected]

Next workshop signup link: https://usb.events.idloom.com/futures-methods-workshop-2-2021

Saturday 5 June is World Environment Day. In this podcast, Prof Chris Reddy from the Department of Curriculum Studies talks about the major environmental challenges we face and what we can do to address them.

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University (SU) hopes to launch a social impact initiative soon to help the small community of Faure rebuild their forgotten village and restore its natural environment.

The project, which will cost an estimated R1,5 million, will be driven by Dr Willem de Clercq and Ms Marlene de Witt of SU’s Water Institute. “Our aim is to rediscover this lost village situated next to the R102 highway between Somerset West and Kuils River,” explains De Clercq. “We hope to involve the staff and students of various SU departments as well as government, the private sector and other communities to bring economic, social and environmental upliftment to Faure. We expect the project to run for approximately five years.”

Since most flowers consist of both male and female parts, they can potentially mate with themselves (self-pollination) or a different plant (outcrossing). But does this process only happen by chance?

While plants are often viewed as relatively passive participants in their own mating process, simply waiting for the birds and the bees to distribute their pollen for them, researchers from Stellenbosch University believe they have found (more) evidence of female choice in plants. In this podcast, Prof Bruce Anderson from the Department of Botany and Zoology will talk about this phenomenon, and how they managed to describe it using different colored quantum dots to track pollen movement between Wachendorfia paniculata flowers and their pollinators.

On Tuesday 25 May we celebrate Africa Day. In this podcast, Dr Chris Jones from the Unit of Moral Leadership talks about some of the challenges regarding democracy, governance, development, and economic conditions that many African countries will have to overcome if they want to achieve lasting prosperity.

Stellenbosch University

Since some children in South Africa don’t have books at home or at school, it’s not surprising that they struggle to read well enough to expand their knowledge of the world. In this podcast, Dr Zelda Barends from the Department of Curriculum Studies talks about how the I CAN READ programme helps to improve the reading and writing skills of learners.

Stellenbosch University.

With fake news, conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers on the rise, Prof Faadiel Essop from the Department of Physiological Sciences and the Centre for Cardio-metabolic Research in Africa reflects on what this means for the future of science in a post-truth world.

Monday 3 May is World Press Freedom Day. In this podcast, Dr Marenet Jordaan from the Department of Journalism and Alexander Brand, Editor-in-chief of the student-run community news publication MatieMedia, talk about how ordinary South Africans can help to uphold media freedom and protect it against a diverse array of threats.

Stellenbosch University